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SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2012, para. 30
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Paragraph text
- [Reparations for children and the restoration of children’s rights]: Previous experience with reparations for children, either administrative or court-ordered, has been limited. Past and present initiatives provide useful lessons learned and a sense of the challenges ahead. The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, for example, was the first ad hoc and hybrid court mandated to order reparations to victims, albeit only of a collective and symbolic nature. The Special Court for Sierra Leone had no mandate to award reparations. Instead, the Government established an administrative reparations programme on the basis of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Resource limitations, however, have put a significant strain on the implementation of this reparations process. In Colombia, in the framework of the Justice and Peace Act, the Supreme Court ordered reparations to child victims of forced recruitment in the case against Freddy Rendón Herrera, alias “El Alemán”, who was accused of unlawful recruitment. The Court considered the needs and experience of each victim, in particular girls, to be different, and decided to focus on individual rehabilitation measures rather than collective material reparations.
- Body
- SRSG: Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women: Twenty years of developments to combat violence against women 2014, para. 41
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- One of the five priority areas of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) is ending violence against women. The efforts of UN-Women in this regard include standard setting, technical assistance, financial assistance, education, advocacy, data collection and coordination. The entity supports Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards, including in developing and implementing national action plans to end violence against women. UN-Women also participates in a number of joint programmes with partner agencies at the country level and coordinates the Secretary-General's UNiTE campaign and the COMMIT initiative. The Inventory of United Nations activities to prevent and eliminate violence against women describes the efforts of 38 United Nations entities, the International Organization for Migration and six inter-agency partnerships. UN-Women has also developed the Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence against Women and Girls, an online resource centre.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The implementation of the rights of the child during adolescence 2016, para. 76
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Paragraph text
- Growing numbers of adolescent girls and boys migrate, either within or outside their country of origin, in search of improved standards of living, education or family reunification. For many, migration offers significant social and economic opportunities. However, it also poses risks, including physical harm, psychological trauma, marginalization, discrimination, xenophobia and sexual and economic exploitation and, when crossing borders, immigration raids and detention. Many adolescent migrants are denied access to education, housing, health, recreation, participation, protection and social security. Even where rights to services are protected by laws and policies, adolescents may face administrative and other obstacles in gaining access to such services, including: demands for identity documents or social security numbers; harmful and inaccurate age-determination procedures; financial and linguistic barriers; and the risk that gaining access to services will result in detention or deportation. The Committee refers States parties to its comprehensive recommendations elaborated in respect of migrant children.
- Body
- Treaty bodies: CRC - Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The implementation of the rights of the child during adolescence 2016, para. 21
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Paragraph text
- The Committee has identified multiple forms of discrimination, many of which have particular implications in adolescence and necessitate an intersectional analysis and targeted holistic measures. Adolescence itself can be a source of discrimination. During this period, adolescents may be treated as dangerous or hostile, incarcerated, exploited or exposed to violence as a direct consequence of their status. Paradoxically, they are also often treated as incompetent and incapable of making decisions about their lives. The Committee urges States to ensure that all of the rights of every adolescent boy and girl are afforded equal respect and protection and that comprehensive and appropriate affirmative action measures are introduced in order to diminish or eliminate conditions that result in direct or indirect discrimination against any group of adolescents on any grounds. States are reminded that not every differentiation of treatment will constitute discrimination, if the criteria for such differentiation are reasonable and objective and if the aim is to achieve a purpose that is legitimate under the Convention.
- Body
- Treaty bodies: CRC - Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 51
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Paragraph text
- The Convention is a significant tool in international efforts to prevent and reduce statelessness because it particularly affects women and girls with regard to nationality rights. The Convention requires full protection of women's equality in nationality matters. Nationality is the legal bond between a person and a State and is critical to ensuring full participation in society. Nationality is also essential to guaranteeing the exercise and enjoyment of other rights, including the right to enter and reside permanently in the territory of a State and to return to that State from abroad. Article 9 of the Convention is therefore essential to the enjoyment of the full range of human rights by women. While human rights are to be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of nationality status, in practice nationality is frequently a prerequisite for the enjoyment of basic human rights. Without nationality, girls and women are subject to compounded discrimination as women and as non-nationals or stateless persons.
- Body
- Treaty bodies: CEDAW - Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The girl child 1998, para. e
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by Governments, international organizations and the private sector:] Actively contribute to efforts at the 1998 session of the International Labour Conference to draw up a new international convention to eliminate the most abhorrent forms of child labour;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 1998
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The girl child 1998, para. a
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by Governments, civil society and the United Nations system, as appropriate:] Protect the girl child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse by taking appropriate measures, including, for example, designing and implementing legislation;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 1998
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women 1998, para. b
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by Governments:] Develop bilateral, subregional, regional and international agreements and protocols to combat all forms of trafficking in women and girls, and assist victims of violence resulting from prostitution and trafficking;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 1998
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The girl child 1998, para. a
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by Governments, educational institutions and the United Nations system, as appropriate:] Consider drawing upon the findings and recommendations of the United Nations Expert Group Meeting on Adolescent Girls and their Rights, held in Addis Ababa in October 1997;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 1998
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2017, para. 19
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Paragraph text
- Long-standing and well-established principles of detention are also being sidelined and overlooked in the context of armed conflict. For example, in many situations children are being held together with adults, and boys are also being held together with girls. Detaining children in this way exposes them to a range of risks to their physical integrity and can have harmful consequences for their psychological development. The nomenclature regarding detention is also a serious concern, as in some instances, the use of terminology such as a "reintegration", "rehabilitation" or "deradicalization" centre has been used to circumvent the applicability of safeguards and to deny the rights of those deprived of their liberty. In this regard, the Special Representative reminds concerned Member States of the importance of adhering to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules) in all instances of the deprivation of liberty of children. In all situations, priority must also be given to maintaining family ties for children in detention, and children should also have access to educational programmes, medical care and psychological support. These provisions will aid a child's reintegration into society once he or she is released.
- Body
- SRSG: Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2016, para. 13
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Paragraph text
- There is no time for complacency. Around the world, millions of girls and boys of all ages continue to be exposed to appalling levels of violence, in their neighbourhoods, in their schools, in institutions aimed at their care and protection and within the home.
- Body
- SRSG: Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2013, para. 26a
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Paragraph text
- [The consultation highlighted the following issues:] The critical role of legislation, which constitutes a core dimension of States' accountability for the protection of children from violence and makes a decisive contribution to the abandonment of harmful practices against girls and boys by communities concerned;
- Body
- SRSG: Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2010, para. 31
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Paragraph text
- WHO was an active supporter of the development of the United Nations study and remains a critical partner in the process of follow-up. The organization's contribution to the initiative to prevent sexual violence against girls, mentioned above, is a meaningful illustration of such steady commitment.
- Body
- SRSG: Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 40
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Paragraph text
- It should be noted that the focus of international criminal justice and mixed tribunals specifically on crimes against children has also raised the stakes in the fight against impunity. The Special Court for Sierra Leone paved the way for sanctioning individuals for child-specific violations by including such crimes in the indictments of all the individuals charged by the Court. This includes former President of Liberia Charles Taylor on counts of recruitment and use of children. In addition, despite the challenges in the trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo by the International Criminal Court for recruiting and using children, that case has symbolized the will of the international community to act for children and as such has sent a powerful message to perpetrators. As this is the first case before the International Criminal Court on the issue of children and armed conflict, and having filed an amicus curiae, the Special Representative gave testimony before the Court on the need to adopt a case-by-case method in deciding on what constitutes enlistment and conscription in terms of the statute. The Special Representative urged an interpretation that would not exclude girl children, who play multiple roles in many groups, not only as combatants but as wives and domestic aides.
- Body
- SRSG: Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 91
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- The work at the expert and regional levels has only led to limited recognition of the problems by intergovernmental United Nations bodies with a human rights or human rights-related mandate. The Commission on the Status of Women has called on member States to develop measures to prevent the labour and economic exploitation and sexual abuse of girls employed as domestic workers and ensure that they have access to education and vocational training, health services, food, shelter and recreation. The Programme of Action of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance urges States to pay special attention to protecting people engaged in domestic work (contained in A/CONF.189/12, para. 67). As part of the universal periodic review, a number of States have made recommendations to their peers to improve the protection of domestic workers. Such references to a serious, widespread and global human rights concern are far and between. There is nothing similar to the General Assembly's Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (resolution 48/104), which opened another socially constructed "private sphere" filled with human rights violations to the persistent scrutiny of the international community.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 30
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- Many States use the criminal justice system as a substitute for weak or non-existent child protection systems, leading to the criminalization and incarceration of disadvantaged girls who pose no risk to society and are instead in need of care and protection by the State. The Special Rapporteur recalls that the deprivation of liberty of children is inextricably linked with ill-treatment and must be a measure of last resort, used for the shortest possible time, only when it is in the best interest of the child and limited to exceptional cases (A/HRC/28/68). Accordingly, the lack of gender-centred juvenile justice policies directly contributes to the perpetration of torture and ill-treatment of girls. There is an urgent need for policies that promote the use of such alternative measures as diversion and restorative justice, incorporate broad prevention programmes, build a protective environment and address the root causes of violence against girls. Failure to support girls in detention with adequate and complete information about their rights in a comprehensible manner and to provide assistance with reporting complaints in a safe, supportive and confidential manner further aggravates mistreatment.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The girl child 1998, para. i
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by Governments, civil society and the United Nations system, as appropriate:] Enact laws concerning the minimum age for marriage and raise the minimum age for marriage when necessary in order to ensure respect for the rights of the child, as stipulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 1998
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women 1998, para. d
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by Governments:] Strengthen the implementation of all relevant human rights instruments in order to eliminate organized and other forms of trafficking in women and girls, including trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and of pornography;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 1998
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women 1998, para. c
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by Governments:] Improve international information exchange on trafficking in women and girls by recommending the setting up of a data-collection centre within Interpol, regional law enforcement agencies and national police forces, as appropriate;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 1998
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women 1998, para. j
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by Governments, non-governmental organizations and the public and private sector, as appropriate:] Provide resources for the strengthening of legal mechanisms for prosecuting those who commit acts of violence against women and girls, and for the rehabilitation of victims;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 1998
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women 1998, para. c
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by Governments and the international community:] Strengthen effective partnerships with non-governmental organizations and all relevant agencies to promote an integrated and holistic approach to the elimination of violence against women and girls;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 1998
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Education and training of women 1997, para. 20
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Paragraph text
- The bodies and specialized agencies of the United Nations system, within their existing mandates, should compile and disseminate information on best practices or strategies for retaining women and girls at all levels of education.
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 1997
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 66
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- The Secretary-General could be asked to convene a high-level panel on intensifying efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence, especially violence and discrimination against indigenous women and girls. States could increase regional monitoring and interregional cooperation; the Great Lakes treaty processes have been praised in that regard.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 50
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- As previously highlighted, many civil society organizations stated that particular importance should also be given to improving implementation strategies and monitoring regimes: there should be a monitoring of State practice in implementing the principles on violence against women as a human rights issue (prevention, prosecution, protection and policy). This monitoring could be carried out by independent organizations engaging with an international treaty body. A treaty could also require States parties to create or nominate a national independent monitoring body on violence against women, which would include frameworks for respective responsibilities in federal States with sufficient resources and the ability to adjudicate cases of violence against women and girls. The treaty could establish a new global gender observatory or international watch centre. It should include a requirement for States to accept more country visits as part of monitoring, as well as ensure consultation with survivors as part of the reporting process and monitoring. Furthermore, more importance should be given to ensuring improved data collection and including a requirement for States to disseminate reports. According to some civil society organizations, any new treaty body should have the power to make general recommendations.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 26
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Paragraph text
- States should strengthen measures to grant nationality to children born in their territory in situations where they would otherwise be stateless. When the law of a mother’s country of nationality does not recognize a woman’s right to confer nationality on her children and/or spouse, children may face the risk of statelessness. Likewise, where nationality laws do not guarantee women’s autonomous right to acquire, change or retain their nationality in marriage, girls in the situation of international migration who married under the age of 18 years may face the risk of being stateless, or be confined in abusive marriages out of fear of being stateless. States should take immediate steps to reform nationality laws that discriminate against women by granting equal rights to men and women to confer nationality on their children and spouses and regarding the acquisition, change or retention of their nationality.
- Body
- Treaty bodies: CRC - Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 26
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Paragraph text
- States should strengthen measures to grant nationality to children born in their territory in situations where they would otherwise be stateless. When the law of a mother’s country of nationality does not recognize a woman’s right to confer nationality on her children and/or spouse, children may face the risk of statelessness. Likewise, where nationality laws do not guarantee women’s autonomous right to acquire, change or retain their nationality in marriage, girls in the situation of international migration who married under the age of 18 years may face the risk of being stateless, or be confined in abusive marriages out of fear of being stateless. States should take immediate steps to reform nationality laws that discriminate against women by granting equal rights to men and women to confer nationality on their children and spouses and regarding the acquisition, change or retention of their nationality.
- Body
- Treaty bodies: CMW - Committee on Migrant Workers
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 30
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- While United Nations human rights instruments, mechanisms and agencies have recognized that the forced sterilization of persons with disabilities constitutes discrimination, a form of violence, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, the practice is still legal and applied in many countries. Across the globe, many legal systems allow judges, health-care professionals, family members and guardians to consent to sterilization procedures on behalf of persons with disabilities as being in their “best interest”, particularly for girls with disabilities who are under the legal authority of their parents. The practices are often conducted on a purported precautionary basis because of the vulnerability of girls and young women with disabilities to sexual abuse, and under the fallacy that sterilization would enable girls and young women with disabilities who are “deemed unfit for parenthood” to improve their quality of life without the “burden” of a pregnancy. However, sterilization neither protects them against sexual violence or abuse nor removes the State’s obligation to protect them from such abuse. Forced sterilization is an unacceptable practice with lifelong consequences on the physical and mental integrity of girls and young women with disabilities that must be immediately eradicated and criminalized.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 26a
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Paragraph text
- [Legislative level] According to articles 2 (b), (c), (e), (f) and (g) and 5 (a), States are required to adopt legislation prohibiting all forms of gender-based violence against women and girls, harmonizing national law with the Convention. In the legislation, women who are victims/survivors of such violence should be considered to be right holders. It should contain age-sensitive and gender-sensitive provisions and effective legal protection, including sanctions on perpetrators and reparations to victims/survivors. The Convention provides that any existing norms of religious, customary, indigenous and community justice systems are to be harmonized with its standards and that all laws that constitute discrimination against women, including those which cause, promote or justify gender-based violence or perpetuate impunity for such acts, are to be repealed. Such norms may be part of statutory, customary, religious, indigenous or common law, constitutional, civil, family, criminal or administrative law or evidentiary and procedural law, such as provisions based on discriminatory or stereotypical attitudes or practices that allow for gender-based violence against women or mitigate sentences in that context;
- Body
- Treaty bodies: CEDAW - Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 67
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- In 2011, a social worker who founded a local shelter for girl survivors of sexual violence and an international human rights lawyer initiated a coalition with local, regional and international civil society organizations, feminist lawyers and the national human rights commission to file a case seeking to hold the police accountable for failure to address rampant sexual violence against girls. The 160 Girls case was brought to the High Court in 2012. With the support of the shelter, 11 applicants were chosen from more than 160 victims of child rape who had been denied access to justice. The remaining victims were represented by the twelfth applicant, which was the rape shelter itself. It was the first case brought to the High Court under the equality provisions laid out in the 2010 Constitution. The decision was instrumental in establishing the failure of the police to meet national and international standards to conduct prompt, effective, proper and professional investigations into complaints, thereby preventing access to justice. With the use of relevant international human rights instruments and progressive interpretation of constitutional rights and State obligation, the jurisprudence was precedent-setting. The seminal contribution of the decision lay in establishing the rights of the child and the delineation of the scope of State obligation in protecting children from violence, and the duty to investigate and apply existing rape laws.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Working Group on discrimination against women and girls
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2015, para. 127
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Paragraph text
- As a result, countless girls end up deprived of their liberty, far away from home and family visits, and placed in units together with adult women. They may find themselves in harsh conditions, in overcrowded cells or in solitary confinement. They may be exposed to sexual violence, harassment, invasive body searches and humiliating treatment by staff in detention centres. In some countries, girls may face inhuman sentencing, including flogging, stoning and capital punishment.
- Body
- SRSG: Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph